Election body announces official result of Istanbul mayoral election

Almost three weeks after the main opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) Ekrem İmamoğlu was declared Istanbul's new mayor, Turkish election authorities yesterday announced detailed results of the election rerun in Turkey's most populous city. According to the Supreme Election Council's (YSK) decision published in the Official Gazette, some 8.9 million Istanbulites, out of 10.5 million, cast ballots in the June 23 rerun poll.

İmamoğlu, the candidate for the CHP, won the race with 4.7 million votes, while Binali Yıldırım of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) got 3.9 million. This translated to 54.2 percent of the vote for İmamoğlu and 45 percent for Yıldırım. The Istanbul mayoral poll was initially held on March 31, when İmamoğlu got 48.8 percent of the vote and Yıldırım got 48.55 percent, according to official YSK figures. But the March poll was annulled after the AK Party appealed the result, citing irregularities and violations of the election law.

The Official Gazette also announced the results of other rerun municipal elections on June 2 in places such as Adıyaman, Artvin, Denizli, and Kırıkkale. The AK Party led the polls in Artvin's Yusufeli and Kırıkkale's Keskin districts. While the CHP won the election in Denizli's Honaz district, the Democratic Left Party (DSP) led the polls in Adıyaman's Kesmetepe town.